Climate Change and the Way Out

          Climate is the weather condition of an area over a long period of time that is, over 35 years. Thus, climate change can be simply described as a change in the weather condition of an area over a long period of time. It is usually in form of change in rainfall pattern and rise in temperature.

           What causes this change in climate?  Events like global warming, greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion and air pollution lead to climate change. But if you take a closer look at these aforementioned events, you would notice that all of them are as a result of human activities. So let us consider them one after the other and also highlight a solution to each of them.

          When you arrive at the state of Texas, United States of America, you would see signboards which states, “pray for rain”. In some countries, rainfall is regarded as a rare phenomenon as it has not rained for a long time. This natural disaster is known as drought; when it is very severe, or dry spell, when it is not that severe. So what causes drought? And how do drought and climate change correlate? Well, as the temperature keeps on rising throughout the earth; global warming, this leads to climate change. When the temperature of an area is high, it results in high evaporation rate which in turn causes an area to become arid. This is known as drought. In fact, desert encroachment is fostered by climate change. This means water would be an essential but rare commodity in the eyes of those living in such areas.

          What can be done about drought? Although the solution to drought is a long term one, cloud seeding can be used as a temporary aid. What then is cloud seeding? Cloud seeding is the act of artificially encouraging clouds to produce rain. Planes fire flares containing chemicals like silver iodide(AgI), potassium iodide(KI), dry ice[solid carbon dioxide(CO2)] or liquid propane( C3H8) into clouds. Then the  cloud absorb this chemical, the chemicals absorb tiny particles of water which collide and become heavier. Finally, the water falls as rain. This has truly helped those living in areas experiencing drought like in the southern regions of U.S.A such as Texas  and the middle east countries like U.A.E.

          It is a well known fact that weather is unpredictable. But climate change has made weather even more so. Let us consider how climate change has made weather more unpredictable. And how it has affected the agricultural sector. Before, farmers had specific planting dates to plant specific crops. But now that has all changed. Why do I say so? Let us take Nigeria as a case study. Normally, rain falls from April stops temporary in August; August break and ends in September but, from what I observed this year, the rainy season began at August and ended late November! The rainfall pattern had been severely altered by climate change! What this implies that in the nearest future, farmers would no longer have a definite planting season and harvest season and crops might not be sold in the market the time we expect if this global issue of climate change not addressed.

          The ozone layer which is the  ‘umbrella’ of the earth, that shields us from harmful rays of the sun is  being depleted daily so the earth is becoming hotter and hotter every day. This depletion is caused by the release of greenhouse gases like chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs), carbon dioxide(CO2) and methane(CH4). Thankfully, chlorofluorocarbons which were used as  aerosols can propellant and refrigerant before, are no longer utilized now as they it caused serious damage to the ozone layer.

          Carbon dioxide can be converted to atmospheric oxygen(O2) by trees. The only problem is that, trees are being rapidly felled for the production of paper, furniture and firewood. And so all that carbon dioxide being produced are emitted directly into the atmosphere and cause the greenhouse effect. So as a solution, afforestation and reforestation should be encouraged so all that carbon dioxide gets transformed into oxygen to promote the oxygen cycle.

          Methane is mostly produced by livestock. Cattle emit the highest volume while chicken emits the lowest. To reduce the methane emission in cattle, some farmers use methane-reducing feed additives and supplements to hinder the growth of methanogens; bacteria that generate methane, in the rumen of the cattle and this is helping.

          So to repair the ozone layer, we need to stop the emission of these harmful gases and allow the ozone layer to  repair itself. It would repair after several lighting strikes, this would convert atmospheric oxygen to ozone.

          Catalytic converters have aided the reduction of harmful gas emissions. Then what are catalytic converters and how do they reduce harmful gas emission? Catalytic converters are a chamber located right before the exhaust pipe. It consist of expensive metals like rhodium, platinum or palladium which act as heterogeneous catalysts. They convert 90% of the harmful gases like nitrogen oxides(NOx), carbon monoxide(CO) and hydrocarbons(CxHx) into harmless or slightly harmful gases like nitrogen(N2), carbon dioxide(CO2) and steam(H2O) by means of oxidation and reduction reaction.

          This device is used in generators, cars forklifts and so on. But I feel that with more exploitation into the use of this device, someday it could be used in factories, placed at the chimneys so that all that harmful gases does not lead to climate change.

          Bombs, missiles and other weapons are used to cause loss of life and properties in a war. But one more thing what people don’t know is that it also leads to climate change. How? When they detonate they release a large amount of heat energy and release particulate and harmful gases into the atmosphere. And this leads to air pollution. The gases trap the heat in the atmosphere and this causes raise in temperature. And as previously discussed this leads to climate change.

          So as a solution to this problem, the United Nations Organization should call for a global ceasefire. They should  hold meetings with countries experiencing conflict and settle their differences so there would not be any more release of harmful gases, heat energy, and particulate for a clearer and cleaner sky.

          In summary, climate change is a rising global crisis that needs to be attended to. Global warming, ozone layer depletion and some other man-made factors are the root cause of climate change. Some of the effects are drought and change in rainfall pattern. Reduction of harmful gas emissions, use of catalytic converters amongst others are the solutions but it would take a lot of time before it the climate would come back to normal but with hard work, it can be accomplished.

–

-By  Aituamen Justice Eromosele.

---